You'll always be my friend
by strawberryfinn
Summary: (Tom Sawyer) After Tom and Huck find the gold, get rich, and all that other stuff, what if Pap Finn abuses Huck? What will Tom do?


**NOTE**: I don't own Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn or any other of the characters. Mark Twain did. I hope you like this story. It took awhile. Review? I took this story down, and then I reposted it.

Injun Joe stepped forward and backhanded Tom across the face.

Tom stumbled, and cringed as Joe aimed for his killing blow. But before he could, a "Hey!" ripped through the air.

Both Tom and Injun Joe turned around in surprise. Injun Joe hardly had time to brace himself before Huckleberry Finn leaped through the air, and kicked him in the chest. Joe found himself sliding back on the ground, his head leaning into the huge hold that was in the cavern below, his hat falling in.

* * *

He slowly got up, and stepped forward. 

Huck immediately pushed Tom to the side to protect him, even though Tom protested.

Joe began walking around Huck in circles.

"I know you," he spat. "You're Pap Finn's boy. Blueberry."

Huck wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Huckleberry."

"Y'all pap's the best knife fighter in the Mississippi," Injun Joe continued. "Did he teach you?"

"Yeah," Huck replied, trying to ignore the fact that Injun Joe was circling around him, like a shark. "He taught me."

"Let's see what you got," Injun Joe jeered. "River trash."

"I ain't river trash," Huck retorted angrily.

"Come on," Injun Joe teased.

Huck tried to hit Joe in the chest, but Joe drew back, and swiped at Huck, making him hit his head against the cavern wall. Huck collapsed on the ground, his head bleeding, moaning in pain, while Tom looked on in horror.

Injun Joe pulled out a knife. "You got guts boy. And pretty soon they're gonna be all over the ground. I'm gonna make this nice and slow for you Blue. But I don't think anybody's gonna care. You're nobody. You know what it feels like to be kicked out of town."

He stuck it deep into Huck's leg, smiling as Huck's scream of pain ripped through the air. He pulled it out, and continued slashing Huck: across the ribs, in the arm, and in the legs. Injun Joe had a killer look in his eyes, ignoring Huck's yelps of pure hurt. Huck looked like he was going to pass out soon; his breathing was haggard, and his eyes glazed with pain.

Tom had to do something. He came up with an idea.

Injun Joe was about to strike Huck again and Tom yelled, "Why don't you try hittin' this?"

Tom held up the treasure chest, threatening to throw it into the deep hole.

"No!" Injun Joe yelled, running for the chest, trying to keep Tom from throwing it in. But he leaned over the dark hole, and was almost falling in. He grabbed Tom's shirt in order to stay on the ledge, or perhaps to pull Tom in as well. Tom was being pulled into the dark, teetering off the edge.

* * *

Huck saw Tom being pulled down with Joe. He tried to shake all the dizziness from his mind. 

_When a friend's in trouble, you just don't run away_.

Gathering his remaining strength, he reached forward and grabbed Tom's hand, using his weight to pull him back onto the ledge.

As Tom's shirt sleeve began to rip, Injun Joe found himself falling through the dark caverns below. Tom and Huck watched as the figure receded into the darkness.

"Too bad the treasure's gone," Huck said, wincing in pain from one of his many cuts.

"No, actually," Tom said excitedly. "The chest was too heavy, so I had to dump out all the money."

The boys climbed over to a small hole, and grinned at the fortune.

* * *

Tom climbed through the hole of the opening into the arms of many cheering people. He clutched the money in his shirt. Huck was next, limping slightly, but once he saw the crowd, he bolted. 

Tom looked after his friend, and ran after him.

"Hey Huck," Tom said. "We're heroes! Don't you want to stay to enjoy it?"

Huck brushed his long hair out of his face. "Don't you see Tom? I'm not like you! People don't like me. They think I'm nobody – a disgrace to humankind. I'm not 'civilized.' I can't read. I don't go to school. I don't have a home! Go to those people who love you Tom! People love you: your aunt, and a whole lot more people. I've got nobody! Nobody! Injun Joe was right," he said desperately. "They see me, and they run me out of this place. Nobody's ever loved me, not even my pap. He was too busy beating me like a rented mule," he continued bitterly, trying to wipe the tears away. "Too busy getting drunk, too busy to even know I was there, except when he needed somebody to blame. You're the only friend I've ever had Tom, but even you will never know how I feel."

He turned and ran, disappearing in the distance.

Tom could only stand and watch.

* * *

Tom spent the night thinking about his friend. He knew what Huck had said was partly true, but he wasn't sure. 

The next morning, he stopped to see Huck in his hideout. He yelled out a "hello" but there wasn't an answer. Tom tried to ignore the wild beating in his heart, and he began to search for Huck. He finally found him; the cuts had become infected, and Huck was now delirious. Tom lifted a hand to rest on Huck's forehead, and drew back from the heat. Despite his fever, Huck was shivering uncontrollably.

"So cold," he moaned. "No! Leave Tom alone… Don't hit me Pap! Please!"

At this comment, Tom looked up at his friend. Furrows of distress lined his forehead, as he thrashed.

That moment, Tom knew what he had to do. He set off towards home, running as fast as he could. He didn't see the figure that watched as he ran off.

* * *

The figure stepped down from his hiding place. He pulled off his hat, and ran a hand through dirty, matted hair. He breathed, his breath smelling of alcohol. He bent over Huck, and smiled evilly. He pulled Huck down from the ledge where he was resting, and began dragging him towards a cabin located deep in the woods.

* * *

Tom ran into his house, the door slamming behind him. 

"Aunt Polly!" he yelled.

His aunt ran out, looking crazy. "What happened?" she shrieked. "You hurt?"

Tom collapsed into her arms, sobs shaking his body. His aunt looked pretty surprised, but she soothed him, until he could collect himself and tell her about Huck.

"We need to help him," he cried. "He's going to die if we don't."

"Oh, Lordy," Aunt Polly gasped. "Wait and let me get my shoes, I'll be right there."

They set off towards Huck's hideout, where Tom looked around in bewilderment. "Aunt Polly, I swear he was right here."

But Aunt Poly wasn't listening. She looked down at a footprint in the ground, with a symbol that looked like an 'X' in the base. "Pap Finn."

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